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Old and Wise
You, Paula and Dr Lobatse run into a spot of bother on a quick fun run, but it's nothing you can't handle. Cast * Sam Yao * Paula Cohen * Dr Lobatse Plot A Good Time, Not A Long Time After two days on plasmapherisis, Paula's coming on a run with you and Dr Lobatse. The pair of them happily recall a recent scar-comparing evening. Get There Before Dawn You reach a river where Dr Lobatse begins to describe a similar location in Egypt, imagining the three of you as Red Cross doctors retreiving medicine from an abandoned oil well... or chocolates from a petrol station in the real world. Crossing The Desert Flats Paula's enjoying what she believes will be her last adventure. This upsets Sam but both Dr Lobatse and Paula agree there's no point sugar-coating the truth that she's dying. Take A Weapon Once inside the petrol station Paula finds a cache of guns in the back room. Suddenly there's a burst of gunfire outside - the owners of the cache, the Exmoor Militia, have found you. The Only Way Left The Exmoor Militia give chase on quad bikes, and the trees you're running through aren't slowing them. With minimal options you run towards a herd of zombies. Head South-South-East The Militia won't follow you into zom territory. Dr Lobatse and Paula try to convince Sam to accept Paula's death. The Militia are approaching from the north and west - you head southeast to avoid them. If There's No Other Way You dispatch the last quad bike by shooting out a tyre. Dr Lobatse stresses that it's strength of will that's got all the survivors this far. Paula requests that when the time comes it's Sam, and not Maxine, who helps her to die. Transcript KEFILWE LOBATSE: Are you ready, Samuel? We do have to begin the run immediately if Doctor Cohen is to be well enough to proceed. SAM YAO: Were you really – sighs Were you really on it all night, Paula? PAULA COHEN: Most of the past forty-eight hours, actually. coughs Hooked up to plasmapheresis, trying to clean out my blood. Veronica’s managed to soup the treatment up to filter some significant particulate out of the blood stream. I think I might get two hours out of it. SAM YAO: Good thing she’s getting so close with the cure, eh? PAULA COHEN: That’s what they say. Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this ever since you told me that whole crazy story, Kefilwe. KEFILWE LOBATSE: laughs Oh, this story? It’s nothing much. SAM YAO: Yeah, how did you get onto this story? PAULA COHEN: Hmm. We were comparing scars one evening. I mean, I’ve got a lot of collapsed veins now. Maxie showed her stretch marks, and Steve went, “Oh, that’s nothing,” and showed us the chunk that crocodile bit out of his leg. KEFILWE LOBATSE: I think it was an alligator. PAULA COHEN: So Kefilwe here looks at his scar and goes, “Oh yes, that is very impressive, Steve,” and then pulls up her shirt to show us her scar. KEFILWE LOBATSE: I always win at those games. SAM YAO: Hey, is he still trying to - KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, yes. SAM YAO: And you’re - ? KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh, certainly not! PAULA COHEN: But we’re all enjoying watching him try. laughs Anyway, Kefilwe told us the story, and I just said, “I’d die happy if I had a story like that to tell.” SAM YAO: Yeah, no need for that. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Well, I cannot take you to Darfur and arrange an attack by the Janjaweed, but this will be the next best thing: a little adventure. SAM YAO: Um, and you’re sure it’s okay? PAULA COHEN: Oh, come on, Samantha! We’re here for a good time, not a long time! Raise the gates! siren, gates raising SAM YAO: Covering fire. gunshots Go. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Okay, this is the most similar setup I could find at short notice. You’ll have to use your imagination. PAULA COHEN: Alright. It’s you, me, and Five. We’re running along a river towards – what’s our target? SAM YAO: Old petrol station. Cleaned out of fuel a long time ago. Thought you could get some of the uh, well, you know, chocolate and stuff. KEFILWE LOBASTE: But you cannot see this river. You must imagine something quite different. It is just before dawn on the borders of the Al-Zaraf game reserve. The birds are beginning to call. There, in the distance, a small herd of giraffe are taking leaves from the treetops. PAULA COHEN: Okay. Yes, okay. KEFILWE LOBASTE: There are three of us. Me, our security officer Monroe – that’s you, Paula – and Doctor Harvey – that’s you, Runner Five. SAM YAO: Yeah, why wouldn’t Paula be the doctor and Five be the security? PAULA COHEN: More fun this way. Carry on. Giraffes? KEFILWE LOBATSE: We are Red Cross, but we are miles from the refugee camp where we’ve been working. We are making our way along the White Nile. The Janjaweed have had this area in their grip for months. They have abandoned a failed oil well a mile from here. SAM YAO: Oh, the petrol station! Nice. KEFILWE LOBATSE: But we Red Cross doctors suspect they have stolen vital UN medical supplies and may have left them in the abandoned shell of the oil well. We need those supplies. Children will die if we do not bring antibiotics home to them. We must risk this trip. And our approach might attract unwanted attention if we took a Jeep. We have to go on foot. SAM YAO: You know, it begins to become obvious to me how you survived the apocalypse, Kefilwe. KEFILWE LOBATSE: We must be there before dawn. Run! KEFILWE LOBASTE: Do you see it? PAULA COHEN: The oil well? Yes. Yes, I see it. KEFILWE LOBATSE: We have scouted the area. Do you agree that it is desolate? PAULA COHEN: Alright, I’m Monroe the security expert, and I say, voice “Yes, that oil well is deserted. Been no one here for months.” laughs voice Oh, this is fun! It’s the most fun I’ve had since, well, you know. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Since you knew you were dying? SAM YAO: Hey, don’t say that! KEFILWE LOBASTE: Are you dying, Doctor Cohen? PAULA COHEN: Yup. SAM YAO: Listen, I know you’re not well, and it’s hard, but the progress Veronica’s made is incredible! She’s found that zombie virus has things in common with rabies, and she’s talking about being able to vaccinate every organ separately, and… I didn’t really understand anything after that, but it sounds amazing! And we’ve got leads on that archaelogical stuff, and we know that Vikings cured it, and if Vikings can cure the zombie plague, then we might - PAULA COHEN: There’ll definitely be a cure. But it’ll come too late for me. KEFILWE LOBATSE: That is why we decided to do this. One last great adventure. SAM YAO: You can’t know that! I know it might happen, you can’t act like it will! KEFILWE LOBATSE: There’s no time for this now. We are in open territory, and the Janjaweed are on the move. Come along. Across the desert flats and up the stairs, quickly! PAULA COHEN: Right, so we head in here? Oh, this is great! What are we looking for? KEFILWE LOBATSE: Vital medications. SAM YAO: And um, if they have any Revels left in the petrol station? I haven’t had any Revels for ages. opens KEFILWE LOBASTE: Doctor Harvey – that’s you, Runner Five – gather together those medications. That is, those chocolate treats. Monroe? Don’t you have something you want to do? PAULA COHEN: Oh, uh, yeah. voice “I’ll check the back just to be safe!” voice Is that the kind of thing Monroe would say? “Just to be safe”? laughs Doesn’t sound very security. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Good enough. Now, go into the back and pretend to be surprised, and then we’ll do the Janjaweed attack. door opens PAULA COHEN: Um, Kefilwe? Five? You need to see this. Now. Right now. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Oh no, Monroe was more relaxed at this point. PAULA COHEN: No, seriously, there are guns. A lot of guns. SAM YAO: No, because this petrol station’s been abandoned for months. Uh, no one would be storing anything here, because I mean - KEFILWE LOBATSE: Goodness! That is a lot of guns. How strange. I thought it was just an accident that we stumbled onto a Janjaweed arms dump at the oil well. I suppose it makes sense in both cases: a place only an idiot would come to visit unannounced. run SAM YAO: Oh crap! I know those quad bikes. That’s the Exmoor Militia! You must have stumbled onto their arms cache. They’re coming, and they don’t look happy. They’ve cut off your direct route back to Abel. You’ve got to get out of there! Now, run! KEFILWE LOBATSE: And take a weapon. That is where I made my mistake last time. That’s how I got the scar, and Monroe and Doctor Harvey ended up dead. run PAULA COHEN: They’re gaining on us, even dodging through these trees. They’re on quad bikes, they’ll catch us. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Yes. They caught us last time. SAM YAO: Okay, okay. I’ve got everyone on this. We’re calling Amelia. She knows how to get in touch with the Exmoor people. They’re not aggressive, just territorial. If we can offer them something - PAULA COHEN: I don’t think they’re interested in anything we’re offering. What did you do last time, Kefilwe? KEFILWE LOBATSE: We ran to the right, tried to lose them in the river. PAULA COHEN: Okay, so we’re not going to do that. Let’s go left. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Ah, we did not want to head to the left because there was a herd of wild buffalo. They’re very aggressive. SAM YAO: Zombies. Not buffalo, zombies. To the left. Huge horde, just past that bend in the river. PAULA COHEN: Still, we’re going left. It’s our only way. growls, gunshots PAULA COHEN: laughs Wow, that one almost got me! Thanks, Five. God, I feel so alive! SAM YAO: The Militia haven’t dared to follow you into zombie territory. They’re circling around the outside on their quad bikes. KEFILWE LOBATSE: You’re quite skillful at this, Doctor Cohen. I wish we’d had you there in Darfur. SAM YAO: Hey! Well, maybe when the apocalypse is over, you can go to Darfur together! PAULA COHEN: Sam, I really need you to hear me. Really. I’m spending more than half my time connected to a plasmapheresis machine, and that’s on a good day. The virus is multiplying in my bloodstream faster than it can be cleaned. I am dying. SAM YAO: We won’t let that happen! KEFILWE LOBATSE: Samuel, not everyone can be saved. SAM YAO: Mm, yeah, I know, but - KEFILWE LOBATSE: No, Samuel. It is time for this to be over. We have tried all that we possibly could. We have given Doctor Cohen many more months than she might have otherwise had. But now it’s time to talk about the future. It is the hardest thing in the world – and I’ve seen it many times – when a family will not talk with their loved ones about the end. Dying people need to make peace with it, to make plans for what will happen when they’re gone. It’s a cruelty not to let them. PAULA COHEN: I want to talk about it with you, Sam. I want to talk about what you’ll tell the baby about me. I want to tell you about my Bubbe and Zayde, so you can tell the baby those stories. I want to talk about how I’ll go, I want to know that you’ve heard me! That I’m dying. SAM YAO: I have! I have heard you! PAULA COHEN: I don’t know if you have. You still think something will come up. SAM YAO: Well, it might! PAULA COHEN: But I can’t live like that anymore! Do you understand? SAM YAO: I don’t… I don’t know if I know how to be okay with that. PAULA COHEN: I need you to work it out. Really. Anway, before I die, I’m going to live. What’s our best way out of these woods? SAM YAO: Exmoor Militia have heard your gunshots. They’re moving in slowly from the west and the north. Zoms approaching from the south and the east. PAULA COHEN: And that leaves? SAM YAO: Might be able to get you through if you head directly south-southeast, right now. Maybe. PAULA COHEN: Maybe’s good enough. Come on. runs, gunshots PAULA COHEN: Wow! Do it again, Five! Got the tire again! That’s that for the Militia, and we’re outpacing the zoms. KEFILWE LOBATSE: That’s very good aim, Runner Five. I heard Sara Smith had trained you. SAM YAO: Aw, yeah. She was the one for it. I think – I always thought she wouldn’t be with us for long, you know? She just had that streak. She was always heading over the edge. KEFILWE LOBATSE: We all understand that you do not want this illness to be true, Samuel. You think that you can wish the world into being different. SAM YAO: laughs Yeah. Or like that thing we did when you turned up, and you weren’t Maxie. PAULA COHEN: Aw, I feel terrible about that! KEFILWE LOBATSE: I understood it. You did not want it to be true that Maxine was gone, and in the end, you managed to find her! That is the strength of will that has helped us all survive this long. That is how I survived in the desert with a stomach wound for three days while Monroe and Harvey passed away. Simple will is sometimes enough, but not always. PAULA COHEN: I know you don’t want my illness to be true, Sam. I don’t want it either. There’s so much – my life feels like it’s just starting. SAM YAO: Paula. What can I do for you? Do you want to talk about wills, or record stories for the baby, or - ? PAULA COHEN: There is something. And Five and Kefilwe? You both need to help him. KEFILWE LOBATSE: Whatever you want, Paula. PAULA COHEN: I want you to kill me, Sam. When the time comes and I turn. I don’t want Maxie to have to do it. I don’t want her to see me like that. SAM YAO: I - PAULA COHEN: You really want to help me, Sam? Then do that for me, please. I need you to promise. SAM YAO: Alright. Yes. voice If it comes to it, if there’s no other way, I’ll do it. I promise. PAULA COHEN: Thank you. Now, come on. Let’s get home. Category:Mission Category:Season Four